Electric locomotive.



PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903.. w. DALTON &' F. 1.00m.

ELECTRIC LOGOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY a, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. I

'No MODEL.

wrr-usssss I PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903. W. DALTON & P. J. COLE.

ELECTRIC LOGOMOTIVE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8, 1903-.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- N0 MODELl INVENTORS WITNESSES H Att'y.

UNITED STATES A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Patented November 17, 1903.

' PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM DALTON AND FRANCIS J. COLE, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNORS TO AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y.,

7 ELECTRIC LOCOMOT'IVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,302, dated November 17, 1903.

Application filed July 8, 1903, Serial No. 164,628. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM DALTON and FRANCIS J. COLE, both of Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady and State of New York,

have jointly invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric Locomotives, of which improvement the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide up in an electric locomotive of the type in which the power of the motor is transmitted through the intermediation of gearing efiective and desirable means whereby strain and wear of the driven or crank shaft may be compensated, so as to maintain the normal length of the connecting-rods coupled thereto and-the accurate engagement of the gearing and also to increase the working life of the gears without substantial increase of cost and enable 2o them to be readily and inexpensively renewed when required. I

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is t a side. view'in elevation of an electric locomotive illustrating an embodiment of our invention, the driving-wheels being shown in broken lines and the gearing indicated by by broken circles; Fig. 2, a plan or top view with the cab and spring rigging removed; Fig. 3, avertical longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, through a bearing of one of the crank-shafts; Fig. 4, a side view, in elevation and on a further enlarged scale, of one 3 5 of the crank-shaft gears; and Fig. 5, a transverse section through the same.

Our invention is herein exemplified as applied in an electric locomotive the supportingframe of which comprises two continuous side frame members 1, in or on which are formed or fixed jaws or pedestals for the reception of the journal-bearin gs of a plurality of driving-axles 2, in this instance three in number, upon which the driving-wheels i are secured. The side frame members 1 are connected at their ends by transverse bufferbeams 1 and the frame is supported upon the driving-axles through theintermediation of springs 5, which rest upon saddles on the journal-boxes 3 and are connected to the frame by spring-hangers 6, asin ordinary steam-locomotive practice. The detailed construction of the spring arrangement does not form part of our present invention, and the same is not, therefore, herein at length set forth.

Power for the rotation of the driving-axles 2 is imparted thereto from an electric motor or motors 7 of any suitable and preferred construction, two being preferably employed, one at each end of the locomotive, as shown in the drawings. Each of the motors 7 is located between the side frame members 1 and as close as practicable to the bumper-beam 1 at the adjacent end of the locomotive. The width of the motor is made as great as will permit it to fit between the side frame members l, and in order to enable as wide a motor as possible to be employed the side frame members may, if desired, be reduced in thickness by being relieved on their inner sides throughout the portions of their length which adjoin the motor. Each of the motors is suitably secured tothe side frame members, and an unobstructed space isleft above the motor, the cab 8 being located between and entirely clear of the motors at the opposite ends of the locomotive.

Each of the motor-shafts 9 has fixed upon its outer ends spur-gears 10,the teeth of which engage those of corresponding gears, which are fixed upon a crank-shaft 12, journaled in bearings in the side frame members 1 in the horizontal plane of the driVing aXles 2. The crankshaft gears, which serve also as crankdisks,.are composed of a body or center 11, which is preferably made of material of comparatively low cost, as cast-iron, and a toothed rim 11, of hard tough material, as steel,which is secured relnovably upon the periphery of the center in any suitable known manner,

7 preferably by being shrunk on. A crank-pin 13 is secured in each of the gear-disk centers 11 and is coupled by a main connecting-rod 18 to a crank-pin 16 on the adjacent drivingwheel 4. A counterbalance 11 is preferably formed upon or secured to the center 11 to balance the weight of the connecting-rod 18. The crank-pins of the driving-wheels on each side of the locomotive are coupled one to another by side or coupling rods 17, so that the several driving-axles 2 shall be coincidently rotated.

The combined gear and crank-disk above described afiords the advantage of enabling the renewal of the gear-teeth when worn to be readily made and at less cost than if an integral gear had to be substituted, as in the ordinary practice. Further, the working life of the gear may be increased without corresponding increase of cost, as the center can be made of material of comparatively low cost and a higher grade of material be employed in the toothed rim, which constitutes only a comparatively small portion of the entire mass of the gear and crank-disk structure.

In order to enable the crankshaft 12 to be accurately maintained in its normal relation both to the motor-shaft and to the adjacent driving-axle 2, to which it is coupled, means are provided for the adjustment of its bearings, both vertically and horizontally, as may from time to time be necessary or desirable. To this end the crank shaft journals are mounted in sectional bearings, which are fitted with the capacity of relative adjustment in jaws or pedestals in the side frame members 1 and which comprise an upper bearing ing 15, a lower bearing 15, and two lateral bearings 15", all of which are curved on their sides abutting on the crank-shaft journal in arcs of substantially the radius thereof. Vertical adjustment of the shaft is provided for by a removable liner l9, fitting between the upper bearing 15 and the top of the pedestal and by adjusting-screws 20, abutting on the lower bearing 15 and engaging threads in the pedestal-brace 1. Horizontal adjustment is provided for by a wedge 21, fitting between one of the lateral bearings 15 and an adjacent inclined side of the frame-jaw or pedestal, said wedge being set up by an adjusting-screw 22, having nuts which bear on the upperand lower sides of the pedestalbrace, and by removable liners 23, fitting between the sides of the upper and lower bearings and the adjacent face of one of the side bearings. The horizontal adjustment may be further facilitated by the employment of a removable liner 24, inserted between the opposite side of the jaw and the adjacent lateral bearing 15", or, if preferred, a wedge 21 may be applied at each side of the pedestal.

The strains upon the crank-shaft in service are severe and involve corresponding wear of the parts,which, if not compensated, will prevent the pitch-circles of the gears from remaining tangent to each other, as they should be for proper operation, and will also vary the working length of the eonnecting-rods,which should of course be kept constant. The provision of the sectional adjustable bearings above described enables the operator to readily and accurately take up wear from time to time, as required, and thereby to maintain the gears and connecting-rods in normal operative relation.

We claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In an electric locomotive, the combination of a supporting-frame comprising two side frame members, driving-wheels fixed upon axles journaled in said frame, an electric motor supported on the side frame members, a crank-shaft journaled in the side frame members, means for effecting the vertical and horizontal adjustment of the crank-shaft, gearing connecting the crank-shaft with the motor, and connections from the crank-shaft to a pair of driving-wheels.

2. In an electric locomotive, the combination of a supporting-frame comprising two side frame members, driving-wheels fixed upon axles journaled in said frame, an electric motor supported on the side frame members, a crank-shaft, sectional bearings fitted in the side frame members, in which bearings the journals of the crank-shaft are mounted, means for effecting the vertical and horizontal adjustment of the sectional bearings in the side frame members, gearing connecting the crank-shaft with the motor, and connections from the crank-shaft to a pair of driving-wheels.

3. In an electric locomotive, the combination of a supporting-frame comprising two side frame members, driving-wheels fixed upon axles journaled in said frame, an electric motor supported on the side frame members, a crank-shaft, upper, lower, and lateral bearings, each fitted in one of the side frame members and fitting on a journal of the crankshaft, a removable liner and set-screws for effecting vertical adjustment of the bearings, a removable liner, a wedge, and an adjustingscrew for effecting horizontal adjustment of the bearings, gearing connecting the crankshaft with the motor, and connectionsfrom the crank-shaft to a pair of driving-wheels.

4. In an electric locomotive, the combination of a supporting-frame comprising two side members, driving-wheels fixed upon axles journaled in said frame, an electric motor supported on the side frame members, a crank-shaft journaled in the side frame members, a pinion fixed upon the motor-shaft, a combined gear and crank-disk fixed upon the crank-shaft and comprising a center and a toothed rim secured removably thereon and meshing with the motor-shaft pinion, a crankpin fixed on the center member of said combined gear and crank-disk, and. a. main conmeeting-rod coupling said crank-pin with a crank-pin on a, driving-wheel.

5. A gear and crank-disk for a geared electric locomotive, in which are combined a center, a crank-pin fixed therein, a counterbalance fixed on the center on the opposite side of its axis from the crank-pin, and a toothed rim secured removably on the periphery of the center.

WM. DALTON.

FRANCIS J. COLE.

Witnesses:

E. H. REESE, A. M. LANE. 

